Brick-by-brick, stories beyond the history come alive in Kelowna this summer

Brick-by-brick, Canadian artist Ekow Nimako re-imagined ancient African kingdoms by building and envisioning a journey based off a medieval historic account, but with futuristic elements. And now, his work is on display at the Kelowna Art Gallery.

For Building Black Civilizations: Journey of 2,000 Ships, Nimako explored the mysterious 14th-century sea voyage of Mansa Abu Bakr II, the predecessor of Mansa Musa, and ruler of the ancient Mali Empire.

The Toronto artist learned about Bakr II’s story from his wife. He was immediately fascinated but at the same time disappointed that he didn’t know about the story already. Nimako said his creations came from a desire to discover as he re-imagined a narrative and gave it architecture, substance and geography. Part of this is also because the end of the journey is not known.

“Most of those stories are based on conquest,” Nimako says. “Most of those stories end up with depravity or colonization and this one to me was something that was based on more of a pure desire to discover.”

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Nimako has been creating art with Lego for more than a decade and was inspired by famous Lego builders. There’s a difference between the two, he notes – he’s an artist first, while the material is second. About four years ago, the Lego Group started showing support for his career.

“That has become really, really helpful and it’s helped to get my work out in front of so many people, which I absolutely appreciate,” Nimako says.

Despite the partnership, the artist confirms none of the Lego pieces are custom. Of the millions of pieces used, they are all standard pieces everybody has access to. Nimako says in his case, he has many Lego pieces that are discontinued and those are the hardest ones to find.

“There’s a finite amount of those parts existing in the world, but I’m not privy to them in any way more than anyone else, ” he says. “Everyone has the access to buy these parts, find them and collect them.”

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The artwork is built entirely out of black Lego pieces, and Nimako has three reasons for that. The first is that it’s practical.

“Black parts are copious and they’re diverse,” he says. “The Lego group probably makes the most amount of parts in black so if I’m looking for a specific part to achieve a certain kind of artistic goal, odds are that it’s going to appear in black.”

Black is also his favourite colour – most of his wardrobe is black and he calls it a “sophisticated” colour.

“The concept of it is fascinating, too, because it contains everything and nothing at the same time,” Nimako adds. “You know, when you think about the infinite cosmos and space and black holes, there is something just so expansive about it. But at the same time, it can represent nothingness and shadow and an absence.” ‘

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The third reason is the most important to him, to represent Black children and make sure their ethnicity is in the forefront.

“I build figurative sculptures, mainly of children, which is that their ethnicity won’t be denied because when you’re using black parts and you’re referring to these sculptures or viewing them, they will always inherently be Black children,” Nimako says. “So that reinforcement of their identity, of these characters that I create a lot of the times, which are spiritual entities like Kwaku Enansi or Mami Wata, which are both pretty prominent spiritual entities in African and Afro-diasporic culture, those identities are just fortified when I make them in black.”

His art also relates to his identity and cultural perspective from growing up in a Gandhian household and experiencing racism growing up and seeing racism in some of the works he loved growing up.

Building in black also removes what he calls the “Legoness” from the art.

“That’s one of the things that Lego parts and Lego building culture is known for, is just having all these colours and all of these textures. But to me, it’s always about simplifying. I like to take away and through that process of taking away and stripping away things like colour, you get to see how alive and the various textures that exist with different parts.”

Where the art takes shape is in the different textures and nuances of the pieces – if they’re glossy, matte, grainy or rubberized, the light reflects on the pieces in different ways.

“There’s an interplay of light and shadow that happens all throughout the artwork where you’re seeing little parts glitter and catch light in certain ways,” Nimako explains. “And then you’re seeing other parts draw in light and dull it so those textures are what is appealing to me, not the texture or the idea of using multiple colours, but muting all of that so that there’s a stillness. And that is what I think contributes to my work being regarded as what it is, which is contemporary art objects and not like a Lego build.”

Building Black Civilizations originally debuted at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto in 2019. Nimako said the original exhibit didn’t have as strong of a narrative as it does now. This exhibit, the Journey of 2,000 Ships, debuted at the Dunlop Gallery in Regina, Sask., and Nimako has wanted to tour the exhibit for a while.

The exhibit will be at the Kelowna Art Gallery from through Aug. 31, and Nimako hopes when viewers encounter the artwork, they “imagine beyond what they’ve often been presented.”

“Imagine beyond the stories of history that were taught in school … like the finite stories of history,” Nimako says. “There’s so many different aspects of cultures around the world that have been silenced, muted, appropriated, stamped out. And this body of work is in many ways bringing stories into the forefront that have often been forgotten or overlooked. And if it’s not that aspect that I want people to walk away with, it’s then more focus on the materiality and just what is possible using this material that we all know and love.”

As part of the exhibit, there is an “imaginarium area” where guests can use art supplies to sketch their ideas of a world fuelled by their imagination. The Art Lab in the gallery will also be transformed into a “Lego Making Space” where attendees can express their creativity by building their creations.

“I love to see kids want to get out that tactility that LEGO invites because I know if I was seeing this as a kid, I need to play with something, you know, like right away,” Nimako says with a laugh.

Visit the Kelowna Art Gallery at 1315 Water St. Learn more at kelownaartgallery.com

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